Three is the magic number for Hibs...
IT just had to be three-nil didn’t it? Jack Ross’s Hibs swept into third place in the Premiership table yet this was no walkover as Motherwell found themselves on the wrong end of their new favourite scoreline.
Fortune had favoured Stephen Robinson in the build-up as his team vaulted from eighth to fifth place in the table, courtesy of those 0-3 forfeits imposed on St Mirren and Kilmarnock following unfulfilled fixtures.
For 45 minutes, you wouldn’t have bet against the Northern Irishman’s team doing it for real as they peppered Ofir Marciano’s goal and had an effort chopped off by referee Andrew Dallas.
Ross earned his corn at half-time, cajoling his players into some forceful, at times slick, play.
‘I was critical of the players,’ said Ross. ‘But they are such a humble group that sometimes they need reminded of how good a team they are too. Second half, I thought we were terrific in all aspects of our play.’
For Motherwell, this was a harsh lesson on what will be required if they are to climb higher in the table.
Dominant in that opening spell, Callum Lang’s movement on the left of the front three proved hard for Hibs to handle and he drifted right to create Well’s first opportunity, a cross that Tony Watt could not direct on target.
Watt tried again with a thumping shot that arrowed just over before Allan Campbell sent a squiggler through the air that forced Marciano into a panicky parry.
The pressure built as the keeper smothered at the feet of Lang and then benefited from an assistant’s flag as Mark O’Hara was adjudged to have committed a foul as he climbed to tee up Bevis Mugabi for a finish.
‘Hopefully, we will get an apology from the referee because that changed the momentum of the game,’ snapped Robinson afterwards. ‘It was given for a push in the box but there was no push.
‘The key moments didn’t go for us in the game. Tony had two great chances, Bevis hit the post and we had that one disallowed.’
In truth, the pivotal moment came with Dallas’s half-time whistle.
After the restart, Hibs swarmed forward as Martin Boyle, Drey Wright and Jamie Murphy supported Kevin Nisbet with intent. Behind them, the excellent Joe Newell ran the show from the middle of the park.
Before Boyle’s opener, home keeper Jordan Archer had made a point-blank save to deny the winger from Paul McGinn’s right-wing cross.
The breakthrough arrived via the other flank, Melker Hallberg standing the ball up from the goal-line and Boyle arriving at the back post to kill the ball and then rattle it in off the far upright.
A Motherwell counter saw Watt thrash over after Stephen O’Donnell’s lung-bursting run and then the luckless Mugabi hit the post from Liam Polworth’s corner.
Instead of bolting the door, Ross introduced Christian Doidge as an attacking partner for Nisbet but the plan had to change again as Murphy went off injured.
‘It’s a hamstring, nothing too major,’ revealed Ross. ‘It’s always a harsh decision to leave Christian out but I was pleased to see him score.’
Boyle almost found the same corner with a drilled shot that took a nick on the way past before playing a part in Doidge’s clincher.
The winger shaped as if to take the ball to the corner flag but instead shifted it inside to Newell. His own route to goal blocked, the midfielder laid it on a plate for the Welshman, who passed the ball effortlessly beyond Archer.
Stephen McGinn added some gloss to the scoreline in stoppage-time, finishing strongly after an assist from fellow substitute Jamie Gullan.
Now above Aberdeen and well placed for European football, Hibs are also just a point behind Celtic, albeit having played three games more.
Ross added: ‘We don’t look too much at positions. We set targets in six-game blocks understanding the points-per-game basis needed to finish in the top level of the table and we’re doing well in that respect. If we continue, we’ll have a good season.’
MOTHERWELL (4-3-3): Archer; O’Donnell, Gallagher, Mugabi, McGinley; O’Hara, Campbell, Polworth (Hastie 82); Long (Seedorf 69), Watt, Lang. Subs (not used): Chapman, Grimshaw, Lamie, Crawford, Maguire, Devine, Cornelius. Booked: Watt.
HIBERNIAN (4-2-3-1): Marciano; P McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon, Stevenson; Hallberg (S McGinn 75), Newell; Boyle, Wright (Doidge 69), Murphy (Gullan 75); Nisbet. Subs (not used): Barnes, Gray, Mallan, McGregor, Doig, Bradley. Booked: McGinn.
Referee: Andrew Dallas.